More than 17,000 professional staff live where they work in Residence Life and Housing (RL&H). Those staff members live in the dorms with the college students whom they serve, as has been the arrangement of RL&H staff members since the inception of colleges in the U.S. in the 1600s. However, there have been recent shifts in the ways in…

The intent of this study was to explore and understand the effects of professional experience on the ethical profiles of housing and residence life staff. Through a survey design, this study used the Managerial Ethical Profile (MEP) to analyze the professional experience of members of the Association of College and University Housing Officers --…

Housing and residence life as a functional area serves as a major entry point for careers in higher education and student affairs. With the majority of annual job postings within entry-level, live-in housing roles, the future of the field may well be predicted in these high-impact, high-turnover positions on college campuses. As these functional…

Staff members in live-in positions often find themselves faced with a difficult choice: Leave their roles in search of a job that offers a better work/life balance or stay and hope their department is invested in making the changes necessary to support their staff. Live-in staff are in a unique position because the challenges they face in…

Many Student Affairs Professionals leave the profession within the first 5 years. A common position for new Student Affairs Professions is the Residence Hall Director position. This study aimed to determine the level of job satisfaction and what factors contribute to job satisfaction for Residence Hall Directors in the California State University…

Gender-inclusive housing (GIH) continues to grow as an option for consideration at colleges and universities across the U.S. A follow-up to a 2016 study by Taub and colleagues was conducted to gauge and assess developmental growth trends of GIH within campus housing. A majority of 184 participants (n = 129) reported that their institution has…

Student affairs professionals (SAPs) are no strangers to experiencing secondary trauma as their work in multiple fields brings them in close contact with students in crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education found its world turned upside down and students were facing heightened trauma due changing class modalities, problematic…

The lived experiences of Black women senior housing officers have received little attention in research about diversity in campus housing. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are more than 6,000 colleges and universities in the United States, with 2,144 serving as residential campuses. However, what is still to be told…

Many women leave higher education and the workforce due to inadequate support after childbirth, as student affairs units often struggle to create family-friendly environments. The purpose of this narrative inquiry qualitative study was to understand why and how mothers who work in student affairs choose to stay after having children. This study…

Housing and residence life professionals help students through crises and traumatic events, which may affect their own well-being. Members of higher education student affairs professional organizations, including ACUHO-I, were surveyed to investigate the following relationships: (1) work factors (i.e., job demands, job resources, exposure to…

Poor supervision has long been cited by new student affairs professionals, particularly practitioners of color, as a factor contributing to their early departures from the field. This, coupled with the hierarchical and often authoritative structures of higher education, has led to practitioners of color feeling burned out and often devalued in…

As the number of racially diverse students on university campuses in Canada increases, so too do questions about whether and how postsecondary institutions are equipped to create a welcoming, respectful, and supportive learning community for a racially diverse student body. This research explored how a residence life management (RLM) team could…

Adjudication of allegations of student misconduct in campus living facilities is one of many responsibilities often held by residence hall staff. After receiving an incident report, these administrators may address concerns like roommate conflicts, fire safety, vandalism, and alcohol consumption with their residents in formal or informal meetings…

The recruitment and retention of residence life staff has become increasingly difficult for many colleges and universities throughout the U.S. Back in 2008, a report supported by the ACUHO-I Commissioned Research Program, "Recruitment and Retention of Entry-Level Staff in Housing and Residence Life," indicated that the problem was…

This mixed-methods action research study delves into the decision-making processes of students, with a specific focus on Arizona State University Housing as a case study. It also explores the potential role that Arizona State University Housing professionals can play in facilitating the flow of essential information to aid in these decision-making…